Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
Interpretation
Hobbes implies that in the context of war, power and deceit are essential strategies for success.
In this quote, Hobbes argues that the harsh realities of war necessitate the use of force and deception as fundamental principles. These two 'cardinal virtues' reflect a pragmatic view of human nature and the necessity for survival in a conflict-ridden environment, suggesting that ethical considerations may be set aside in favor of victory and dominance.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about military strategy or ethics in warfare.
Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy; and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion.
I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years, and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I most grapple with is how you actually define poverty. What does it mean?
To be ashamed of one's immorality: that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one's morality.
Could it be, I wonder, that there is such a thing as a wantologist, someone we can hire to figure out what we want? Have I arrived at some final telling moment in my research on outsourcing intimate parts of our lives, or at the absurdist edge of the market frontier?
That's the kind of consumer society we live in. We're always looking for the next product that's going to change your life instead of just going out and changing your life.
The word liberal comes from the word free. We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us.
...to return to their 'native soil,' as they say, to the bosom, so to speak, of their mother earth, like frightened children, yearning to fall asleep on the withered bosom of their decrepit mother, and to sleep there for ever, only to escape the horrors that terrify them.
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